38 "Cheers!"

Brad stepped out of the bathroom with a towel in his hands as he dried his hair before walking over to sit on the sofa in his hotel room.

He had been unable to sleep earlier, so he had decided to go out and start his search for his aunt. The earlier he found her, the sooner he could return to his home.

He didn't know how he felt about the news of his aunt's death. He hadn't really given much thought to the idea of not finding her alive.

He wondered how his grandmother would feel about that. She shouldn't have started this search in the first place. She started too late, and now she was only going to get hurt. Maybe her only consolation would be her granddaughter, who, to the best of his knowledge, was still alive.

He was supposed to be feeling jetlagged, but he wasn't. It was like he was buzzing with excess energy, and he needed to knock himself off so he could rest.

He pulled a polo shirt over his taut body and wore denim jeans and a jacket before brushing his hair. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and gave himself a wink of approval before stepping out of the room.

What he needed was a good club to get drunk and watch strippers dance, and just maybe, if he was lucky enough, he would get himself a pretty ass young lady to share his bed with him.

He strolled over to the reception desk, and once again, everyone there had curious, polite smiles on their face and stood still as they answered to him. "Is there a club where I can hang out around here?" He asked, focusing his attention on the ladies.

"Sure. There is one really close by for elites. But if you want somewhere less expensive..."

"Nah, the one you just mentioned will do. Just point me in the right direction," He said, cutting in with a wink that had the ladies blushing.

He was a charmer and was always good with women. He was a really good flirt and could even make a career out of it if it came right down to that.

He not only knew he was good-looking, he knew how charming he could be and his effect on the opposite sex. He was a jockey, after all, and enjoyed the kind of fame it brought his way. His bed was never lacking in women. He always got them just where he wanted them.

There was hardly a day of horseracing he ended without having a lady accompany him to warm his bed at night. By his bed, he didn't mean his bed in his grandmother's house. He respected her too much to carry different ladies into her house. He had a little cottage on the outskirts of town where he spent most of his time alone with the ladies.

One of the ladies gave him the direction he needed, and with a polite salute and wink, he left them gaping at him in awe.

Brad quickly stopped a cab and gave him the directions to the club he had been directed to.

***********

"Give me a second. I need to call my sister," Zoe told Zhang Wei the moment he parked the car in front of the club.

"You have a sister? Is she older than you and pretty?" He asked with a cute smile.

The drive to the club had been a very awkward and silent one as they both did not say a word to each other until now.

"You're not her type," Zoe said with a smirk before getting out of the car. She quickly moved away from him before dialing Grace's number. She tapped her right foot impatiently while waiting for her to pick up.

"Hey, sis!" She greeted the moment the call connected.

"Zee, How're you? Are you back from class?" Ann asked curiously.

"That's why I was calling. Something kind of came up, and I'll be running late. Can you cover for me?" Zoe asked with uncertainty.

"Hope you didn't get into trouble?" Anna asked with a frown.

"No. The thing is, I just became friends with someone, and she wants us to hang out. You know I don't really have any friends, and this means a lot to me. So-"

"It's okay. I will come up with something to say. Will you need me to pick you up?" Ann asked, interrupting her.

"No, no. I'll be fine. You don't have to worry. Thanks, sis," Zoe said before hanging up. She released the breath she had been holding in all through the call. Grace wasn't usually so agreeable... This new aspect of her was really refreshing.

"So are we going in, or are we going to just stand around here?" Zhang Wei asked her.

"Yo man! Let's bounce!" Zoe said with false enthusiasm as she followed Zhang Wei into the club.

"You seem pretty pumped up about this now that we are here," Zhang Wei said, raising his voice above the music to be heard.

"Why don't you seem affected by what that lady said to you?" Zoe asked when they got to a chair by the side.

"Why should I be? I don't even know her. Besides, I've heard far worse from people I know, so what's the big deal?" He asked with a dismissive shrug.

Zoe felt really bad for him as she wondered just how much he must have heard from people around him. She decided at that moment that she was going to be his friend.

"So why don't you interact well with the other guys in your class?" He asked curiously.

"They seem to have formed their own close-knit group, which leaves room for no outsider, and there is nothing I can do about that," Zoe said with a shrug.

"So why dancing? Why did you choose to learn how to dance when you can do any other thing?" Zhang Wei asked.

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body," Zoe said with a smile.

"Martha Graham," Wei said with a smile.

"How did you know that?" Zoe asked with widened eyes. Not everyone knew such musical quotes. Maybe poetry, yes, but not quotes related to music.

"The dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music.."

"And it has the additional merit of being human and palpable. Dancing is poetry with arms and legs. Charles Baudelaire," Zoe said, completing the quote with him and surprising him this time.

They both chuckled as they looked at each other. "I knew there was something special about you. We are going to be great friends, I'm sure," Zhang Wei said, smiling happily.

Zoe felt pleased to know he was someone who appreciated the art of dancing as much as she did. They were going to get along just fine. Zoe nodded in agreement as they drifted off to discussions about dance.

"Cheers to our newfound friendship!" Zhang Wei said, raising his glass of wine for a toast.

"Cheers!" Zoe said happily as she clinked glasses with him.

Just as she raised her glass to her lips, her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Ann, her sister's personal assistant walking into the club. What was she here for? Did they, by chance, follow her? No, it was impossible, she said, shaking her head as she watched her walk over to sit by the bar.